It’s funny. You mention Lee Ann Womack to certain segments of traditional country music fans, and you’re liable to get a sideways glance, or downright gruff. Little do they know the leadership Lee Ann has exhibited over the last decade plus in keeping the roots of country music alive.

To a large swath of country music people, their point of reference for Lee Ann is her smash #1 hit from 2000, “I Hope You Dance.” The song was so big, and her mainstream success was so hit or miss afterwards—which then lead to a period where she downright disappeared—you really can’t blame those people for not knowing what a powerhouse of true country Lee Ann Womack has become, including when she was still on a major label. And though it is distinctly country pop, the simple truth is “I Hope You Dance” is an incredibly good song. Timeless. In fact it might be one of the best ever in the entirety of the country music canon.

But Lee Ann Womack didn’t write it. Nor did she write any of the material on her last record The Way I’m Livin'”, or much of the material throughout her career. We give credit to some performers for being great songwriters for themselves, but there is a distinct skill in being a good song picker too. Sure, it’s probably not as demanding as writing good songs, or is it? Knowing a good song when you hear one, not just from your own personal tastes, but something that will resonate with listeners, and something that you can sing well and that fits your style, and something your audience wants or expects from you, is often the skill that separates the good artists from the great ones, even the ones who write their own material, but still must choose what to record.

Lee Ann Womack recorded a song from Chris Stapleton way back in 2005. She was an early supporter of Bruce Robison. While the rest of the country world seemed unaware, Lee Ann Womack recognized the songwriting skill of Waylon Payne. Even Brent Cobb was put on many people’s radar way before he became a solo performer from writing songs for Lee Ann. Odie Blackmon, Jim Lauderdale, and Brennen Leigh are some other names who’ve benefited from Womack’s songwriting credits. Like George Strait and others, Lee Ann can sing a country song better than most, but it’s selecting them that separates her from the crowd.

Lee Ann Womack’s latest album The Lonely, The Lonesome, & the Gone has more co-writes from Womack than any other album she’s ever released, arguably making it her most personal. It also feels like the spreading of wings a bit in the stylistic approach. But moreover it is Lee Ann doing what has made her a favorite among many, which is finding the songs that somehow have sifted through the fingers of the rest of Music Row with its skewed priorities, and singing the bejesus out of them with a voice that has been raised to the level of the iconic from how many recordings its graced that have gone on to become the definitive version of a composition.

The Lonely, The Lonesome, & the Gone starts off a little strange stylistically, almost like it’s trying to stretch Lee Ann into the realm of this Muscle Shoals revival that east Nashville and Americana has been obsessed over for the last few years. Kudos for keeping things spicy and relevant, but sometimes it feels like producer and Lee Ann’s significant other Frank Liddell tends to get a little too cute, trying to put his own stamp on Lee Ann’s sound as opposed to finding its true, natural style.

The album starts off with a song called “All The Trouble” that tries to set a dark mood, but ultimately doesn’t say very much. The title track, “The Lonely, The Lonesome, & the Gone” could have been a really heavy hitting classic country tearjerker, but the steel guitar is buried in the mix for some reason, and the style seems too contemporary for the songwriting. The fuzzy, dream pop guitar tone on “Shine On Rainy Day” may be appropriate for some, but not for Lee Ann. She shouldn’t try to compete with the east Nashville retro hipsters. She’s better than them, and should be informing their sound instead of attempting to follow it.

But this record finds its footing in the middle portions, to the point where any disagreements you may have with the production team become forgivable. “End of the End of the World” solo written by Adam Wright is one of those songs that would have put people in the Hall of Fame if it was written 50 years ago. The playful, swaying beat of “Bottom Of The Barrel” by Brent Cobb and Jason Saenz gives the record its most appetizing and infectious moment. The three primary songwriters on this record—Womack, Waylon Payne, and Adam Wright—team together on “Mama Lost Her Smile” and the heartbreaking “Sunday,” and the results are pure magic.

You may ask yourself why we need yet another version of “Long Black Veil,” but Womack proves why. As iterated above, Lee Ann has a way of putting a definitive stamp on whatever she chooses to sing, not just because of her natural talents, but from knowing what she can clobber out of the park while standing in front of a mic, sometimes with sheer power like she did with the ultra-contemporary “I Hope You Dance,” or in the case of “Long Black Veil,” with hushed tones taken to one of the oldest and most revered compositions in country music history.

There’s a reason why Miranda Lambert—who shares many of the same songwriters and the same producer as Lee Ann—decided she needed to release two discs instead of one for her last album. During an era in country music when some of the best songs are being overlooked by Music Row, and it seems like a severe risk that this material maybe be resigned to demo tapes and legal pads for eternity, Lee Ann Womack is stepping up to give these songs breath and life, and contributing her own words more than ever, benefiting from the rest of country music’s shortsightedness. The rest of us benefit too when a record like The Lonely, The Lonesome, & the Gone gets pressed.

All The Trouble was the first one off this I heard ahead of release, so I cautioned myself with expectations, but the album is better than I expected it to be. That’ll learn me to base expectations for an entire album off a single release. I enjoy her cut of Long Black Veil, but nobody alive can sing that one better than Daryle Singletary. Kudos to Lee Ann on another great record, even if there isn’t another “Hate Myself In The Morning” on here.

I feel very similar about this album as I did the latest Ray Wylie Hubbard. It’s almost like they chose one of the worst songs to put out front, and one that doesn’t even represent the rest of the record well, tempering expectations, and setting the table for folks to be disappointed in it. As Kent and Kevin Davis say below, it makes you think this is going to be a bluesy, dark record, which it is in parts, but there’s also some great country stuff here too.

I love the fact that “Long Black Veil” is a song that is covered so often since it is a) so good and b) always done differently (at least the versions that I have heard). I like her version a lot, but I agree that Daryle Singletary’s version is probably my favourite.

I was listening to the preview of this album yesterday. And one things is sure I would not like to be a music critic. The singing is flawless she has damn good voice. The musicians playes flawlessely. So 10/10?…

But I wouldn’t buy this album Because to me the production makes almost every song sound cold and desolate but that’s of course a very subjectiv judgement and really not fair. So I think you have damn difficult job I mean sometimes you also have to do some kind of compromize between how you feel about the music emotionally and an objectiv assessment of the quality of the music then you give it a rating.

I’m usually such a coward so if I don’t have anything nice to say then I don’t say anything…

That was my impression, especially on roughly half of the songs. It’s definitely a “blues country” album as she has described it, but I could use more of something that I can’t put my finger on. I love Lee Ann, and I love how this album reflects her artistry as a 51-year-old woman. Trigger highlighted the best songs, but as a whole I’m not sure how this album will sit with me over time. Maybe I’ll come to appreciate it more.

I wouldn’t say the production is cold and desolate on almost every song, but it is on the first song, and the song that was released first from this record, which is the song that is meant to represent the album to the public so I understand the sentiment.

it was different and dark at times, i get the opinion. i just thought the contrast between the dark, almost improvised musicianship and her absurd vocal ability was really striking. on all the songs. I won’t be humming them to myself during the day like i do with john prine songs. no. but as a piece, i thought it was unbelievable.

I remember being every bit as bitter and disgusted about “I Hope You Dance”, as all you neophyte Country fans are about everything Sam Hunt does.

It wasn’t quite on that level for me, but as I’ve said before, the absolute worst thing about that song was that it was a very poor representation of what Lee Ann Womack is about as an artist. It wasn’t even a good representation of the album whose title it shares. I remember, after I heard that album, wondering what the pop fans who bought it for the title track thought of songs like “Lonely Too” and “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger.”

“I Hope You Dance” is an excellent song, and I’ll puff my chest out and challenge anyone who says otherwise. Is it country? Of course not. But talk to any mother or daughter who was around in 2000, and they’ll tell you that song changed their lives. It may not be right for you, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good song.

“Who cares what mothers and daughters think?”
Every mother, every daughter, any man with a shred of integrity. I believe you are in the minority, although I will admit that your bracket has run this world for far too long. But I believe your time is almost up, hence the desperation coming through in almost every comment you make.

I love I Hope You Dance. It is a very special song to me. I am currently in the process of saving my money in order to get an “I Hope You Dance”-inspired tattoo, like I’ve wanted for quite a while. I’m also a bit of a Lee Ann Womack superfan (and an aspiring singer who counts her as one of my biggest inspirations). It’s also absolutely excellent. However, I am probably more tolerant of pop country than many who visit the site. I love well-done, well-written pop country as well as traditional country.

Maybe my ears just don’t work right, but to me this woman is the greatest living country singer. And I typically listen to guys more than gals. But to me she is #1 as a singer, and there isn’t a super close 2nd, male or female. Song choices were good, musicians were super good, and the singer is unassailable. This is a no-brainer to me.

I’d say, in the last say 20 or so years in the mainstream Lee Ann Womack, Trisha, and freaking Pam Tillis (this gal can HONKY TONK!) for me are the top three in terms of singing and song choices. I like Reba but she’s a little too much of a belter for my tastes I prefer some restraint.

I love her. She is fantastic. I’ll definitely have to check this out. In my opinion, the only contemporary female country singer (while there are many great ones) that even comes close to Lee Ann Womack is Ashley Monroe, who reminds me a lot of Lee Ann. (Am I the only one who sees the similarites? Just wondering.)

I am obsessed with Lee Ann since “The Way I’m Livin'”. Back then I didn’t listen to her songs that much, basically, because I never liked I Hope Your Dance and older famous singles. But since that album I think she improved so much, especially right now where singers that had some many hits in the 90s are releasing so many bad things nowadays (and maybe it’s the industry to blame that they need to get in shape to sell more, like Shania’s recent album), but with Lee Ann I think it happened the opposite. And this new album it’s not different to me, she sounds as good as she did in 2014 when I really became a fan and I honestly liked this new album, especially these blues/country songs like Hollywood and He Called Me Baby.

The reason she’s recording better material is because she’s finally free of her big record label contract. In interviews she said that, while she loved and is proud of all of her music, she was very aware of what the label wanted from her – i.e. commercial country pop like “I Hope You Dance”. She stood her ground and was able to record songs that were more country than most at that time but she was still constrained in a way. Now that she’s with an independent label, she said she feels like she can finally make the albums she’s always wanted to make – the americana/country/blues music of her last two releases.

funny isabella ……i can’t get enough of lee ann’s older stuff ….the songwriting was the best around …wonderfully crafted and melodic with lots of steel and tradition and CLEVER lyrically…and it all holds up .
i like her newer stuff too ( although i have yet to hear this latest ) but mostly the newer stuff holds up because of her incredible talent and not the songs / melodies /arrangements , in my humble opinion . like so many artists she seems hard-pressed to fit in at this stage and harder pressed to find timeless yet accessible material . again ….i have yet to hear her latest ….hope its a different story song-wise .

To me, the two versions are completely different songs almost. Can’t speak on the reasoning, but I’m glad to have two separate versions. Cobb did great, and I think it might be the best track on this record. Back in the day, you would see the same song cut by three or four artists in Nashville in the same year, sometimes with multiple version competing on the charts. That was probably a better day.

Actually, let me completely edit that. For some reason I had “Bottom of the Barrel” in my head when I made this comment for some reason. Lee Ann’s “Shine on a Rainy Day” is one of the weaker tracks on this record in my opinion, with poor production specifically. Good song, but I agree, no need for two versions here.

Except it never was exclusively Cobb’s song. Andrew Combs had a co-write and released a version of it as “Rainy Day Song” too, so it’s been covered three times and preformed three different ways.
It’s a good lyric so that’s why she (and anyone) covers a song.
The first single from this is similar in approach to “Vice” from Miranda’s last album.
Red vinyl version of this album available on Pledgemusic.

Actually – I saw Paul Anka interviewed where he stated that he had wrote “My Way” for himself, but then played it for Sinatra who wanted to record it. Anka said no, he wanted to record it. A day or two later, he said Sinatra called him from the recording studio and played him his recording of “My Way” that he had just recorded so Anka gave in. That being said, however, yes – people cover each other’s songs all the time.

(Un)-popular opinion: i love “All The Trouble”. A song like a “film noir”. Cold, dark & desperate.
It’s the kind of album you can’t record when you are under contract with one of the Nashville industy labels. Not in 2017.

It’s hard to hate the new Lee Ann. It’s like ever since 2005 she’s been recording great music.
Trigger would you consider this country or Americana, sometimes I get confused distinguishing the two thanks

Womack may very well be my favorite current female country vocalist right now. She’s not necessarily my favorite artist,(not even close) but her voice is just phenomenal. The songs I’ve heard from this record sound great so far, and goddamn, how catchy is Bottom of the Barrel?

“and singing the bejesus out of them with a voice that has been raised to the level of the iconic from how many recordings its graced that have gone on to become the definitive version of a composition.”

I laughed at this line. It is true but is has to be added she does not belt or caterwaul or scream the notes. She has restraint and knows who to phrase a damn lyric. She isn’t trying to prove she can hold a note longer or do more runs than Patti Labelle singing on a Sunday like most young singers.

I recently saw Caroline Spence tweet that she is obsessed with Womack’s new album. So that, in combination with your review, has made me very curious. I’m definitely going to listen to it. I love Womack and have ever since “I Hope You Dance.” It feels like she’s been under the radar all these years, making great and lasting music.

Lee Ann is the best female in country music, hands down, bar none, etc. She did pop country the right way many years ago, and has done stone cold country the right way ever since. Whether or not she writes the song she is singing, you’re guaran-goddamn-teed to feel it.

OK….so I bought this on the weekend and I love Lee Ann . But I didn’t like the record ., except for 2-3 tracks . I was bored by the production and bored by the fact that her voice is better than the material she’s chosen to wrap it around here. WAY better …..